Sci-Fi villain look-alike elected as PM

Olivia Chow - not a sci-fi villain.
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Having devoted several posts to the subject of elexmas and the sordid election choices we faced, how can I not comment on last night's outcome? Not that I want to.

To be postiive, Olivia Chow finally got her seat, and I'm so happy that she will be a contributing member of Parliament. Ever since I first encountered Chow, in a NOW mag piece she wrote (when I was in my third year at York) in which she and Jack lived for a week on welfare wages to experience the confines of an impoverished space, I thought: Excellent! Politicians and community leaders willing to actually put themselves into the experiences of the citizens they represent. I love that Chow's education is a BFA from Guelph. She's an artist, she creates sculptures; she's a member on a gaggle of school trustee and community boards. I also love that she was a lecturer at George Brown College, in the Counselling and Advocacy for Assaulted Women and Children Program.

John Carty also pulled in the most votes an NDP rep has ever received in the Fredericton riding. I hope his supporters continue to grow in number for the next election. Andy Scott has entered his fifth term as Fredericton's MP, and that is far too long to be in the hands of one representative. However, on the bright side, his re-election means that important policies regarding funding and supprt for aboriginal groups that were put on hold for the election, and which most likely would have been lost with a change of personel, will hopefully still get put on paper and actualized.

Here's to another minority government. May it roll over fast.
In the meantime, I hope I can make it to Frank McKenna's tradition of backyard Strawberry Socials. It's been nearly a decade since I last enjoyed a shortcake on his lawn, listening to Nick's Dixies. Frank's had his eye on Federal leadership for years, and all the strawberries in the world won't keep that business man from becoming manager of the Liberals. I just hope this time around, he doesn't replace arts and education funding with call-centres and IT training. The information highway turned out to be a cul-de-sac; I hope New Brunswick taught him a lesson that Washington hasn't managed to erase.